Some aren't ready to forgive Jets' new QB Michael Vick's past

Petunia the bulldog has strong opinions about humans: If they scratch her back and offer their hands for sniffing, humans are great. Petunia's owner, Mayra Medina of Cliffside Park, has strong opinions about people who hurt dogs: They should be in prison.

And unlike Michael Vick, the new Jets quarterback once convicted of running an illegal dogfighting ring, Medina says, they should not be earning $5 million a year playing professional football.

Mayra Medina of Cliffside Park, with Petunia in Overpeck Park in Leonia, said she doesn't think Michael Vick should be allowed to play in the NFL after his conviction and prison term for running a dogfighting ring.

"I don't think he should be allowed to play in the NFL," said Medina, 35, watching Petunia waddle around the dog run at Overpeck Park in Leonia on Saturday. "After what he did to those dogs, I don't think he can be rehabilitated."

Vick's decision to sign a one-year, $5 million contract with the Jets has reignited a controversy he has tried for five years to leave behind. In April 2007, law-enforcement officials discovered Vick was running a dogfighting ring on his 15-acre property in Virginia. In addition to those wounded or killed in fights, dogs that failed to perform adequately were killed by drowning, electrocution and hanging, according to published reports from the trial.

At the peak of his career and physical condition, Vick pleaded guilty and served 20 months in prison. Reinstated by the NFL in 2009, he led the Philadelphia Eagles to the playoffs in 2011.

He also tried to improve his image. Months after winning the NFC Eastern Division championship in 2011, Vick lobbied members of Congress to support legislation cracking down on spectators and organizers of animal fighting rings.

"I deeply regret my previous involvement in dogfighting, I'm sorry for what I did to the animals," Vick said at a news conference then. "During my time in prison, I told myself I wanted to be part of the solution, not the problem."

At a dog park and a sports bar in North Jersey on Saturday, opinions were mixed among football fans and pet owners about whether Vick's attempt at rehabilitation succeeded. Some saw Vick and his crime as something beyond redemption - the sickening abuse of creatures bred to trust in humans and yield to their control; others see a guy who committed a horrible crime, paid a steep price and now should be allowed to practice his trade.

Standing in the dog run with the front paws of his golden doodle, Hudson, on his chest, Chauncey Tomlinson said Vick had atoned.

"What he did was indefensible. But he apologized, he served his time," said Tomlinson, 24, from Teaneck. "Plus the Jets need a quarterback."

Vick himself was ready to move on.

"I appreciate all the Jets fans who appreciate me and accept me for who I am and what I've become, not for what I've done," Vick said Friday. "Right now, my past is irrelevant."

Others, though, were not ready to forgive. Standing at the bar in 101 Pub, a sports bar in Bogota, Marge Mullen, a Giants fan who also watches the Jets, said she plans to boycott all Jets games until Vick leaves.

"Just sitting in jail for two years isn't enough to change his mind," said Mullen, 61, a Ridgefield Park resident who works at the Bergen County Animal Shelter. "I don't care how good he is. He shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the NFL."

Other dog lovers said they plan to take their response further.

"I will boycott the Jets, and any company that has anything to do with the Jets, from now on," said Teri Beck, 64, an Edgewater resident who brought her mini pinscher, Bella, to the dog park.

The Animal Protection League of New Jersey and the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals did not return calls and emails Saturday seeking comment.

News of Vick's contract with the Jets also sparked a lot of activity on social media, where commenters talked nearly as much about his multiple injuries and his age - Vick is 33 - as they did about dogs.

Dennis Agapito, a writer at Jetnation.com, a fan website, said he thinks the move makes sense for the team.

"There definitely is a minority of people commenting on our site who will never forgive him and will never forgive the team for hiring him," Agapito said. "But the majority of people are concerned with what he brings to the football field."

At Pub 101, John Emmets boasted of his elaborate Jets tailgating operation, which includes an RV, a pull-behind trailer and a pair of three-foot grills. Emmet's father and grandfather loved the Jets, and the controversy over Vick's dogfighting past isn't enough to sway his opinion.